This is a record of my journey as a Muslim. I used to be Catholic and belonged to a missionary organisation. After my conversion, I sat on the board of a Muslim converts' organisation and specialised in da'wah programmes, convert management, interfaith issues and apostasy cases. I am an initiate of a Sufi order. As such, the articles and writings tend to cover these areas.
All the Arabic and graphics could not have been done without the help of my wife, Zafirah.

Tuesday, 4 September 2012

Diving for Pearls in the Prophet's (s.a.w.) Ocean

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ
ٱلرَّحِيمِ

The
following is adapted from a swuhbah
from Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani (q.s.) on the 13th October 2010.

We
are advised to work towards having our names written on the list of the
righteous servants, not the rebellious.

Nay, verily the Record of the righteous is
(Preserved) in ‘Illiyun. And what will explain to thee what ‘Illiyun is? (There is) a register (Fully) Inscribed. To which bear witness those Nearest (to
Allah). (Surah al-Muthaffifin:18-21)

As
for the rebellious:

Nay! Surely
the Record of the wicked is (Preserved) in Sijjin.
And what will explain to thee what Sijjin is? (There is) a register (Fully) Inscribed. (Surah
al-Muthaffifin:7-9)

It
is not a condition that everyone must be a scholar in Islam. Every Grant from Allah (s.w.t.) to His servants carries responsibilities. Allah (s.w.t.)
Gave each person different responsibilities. We must know what it is that is really
necessary for us to do in order to please Allah (s.w.t.). Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) brought Islam so we must believe
in him and respect him. It is obligatory
since he is the Messenger from the Lord of Heavens who brought us the way of
safety, a way that prevents us from falling into Hell.

We
have taken knowledge of the Prophetic tradition from the companions, and they
took their knowledge from Rasulullah (s.a.w.)
who took his knowledge via the archangel Jibril (a.s.), from the Lord of Heavens. Before the advent of Islam, the swahabah were also ignorant. They knew nothing of religion. They did not know how to differentiate between
truth and falsehood, until Allah (s.w.t.)
Sent them al-Furqan. al-Furqan
is another name for the Qur’an. It is
the Divine Criterion to demarcate the limits of truth, beyond which lay
falsehood. It shows very clearly where
truth ends and falsehood begins. It is a
clear distinction between good and evil. There is a Divine Wisdom that Guides us to Paradise
as good things carry people to Paradises whilst bad things drag them down into
Hell. Hence a prophet is Sent to teach
us to understand the Criterion between truth and falsehood.

O ye who believe!
If ye fear Allah, He will Grant you a Criterion (to judge between right
and wrong), Remove from you (all) evil (that may afflict) you, and Forgive you:
for Allah is the Lord of Grace Unbounded. (Surah al-Anfal:29)

Rasulullah
(s.a.w.) was the last Messenger, and
he brought the Last Message, the final Criterion to explain to all of us until
the end of time, all that is false and all that is true. Those Blessed to receive this Message
directly from him were the companions, who were entrusted to carry that Message
to the future generations of believers, up until Yawm al-Qiyamah. The source
of Divine Knowledge is the Seal of Prophets (s.a.w.), and each one of the 124,000 swahabah tapped into that Ocean of Wisdom. We must never belittle the swahabah. We must not say, “This is not a hadits; it is merely from a swahabi,” as each swahabi had a direct link with Prophetic knowledge. It is only the ignorant who disparage the swahabah.

Allah
(s.w.t.) Surrounded the Seal of
Prophets (s.a.w.) with 124,000 swahabah. Each swahabi
took a portion of that vast Divine Knowledge that was brought by Rasulullah (s.a.w.) and taught it to the next
generation. We must give due respect to
those who teach us. The swahabah were students of Rasulullah (s.a.w.), and what they learnt, they
taught us. ‘Ali (k.w.), said, “He who teaches me one huruf, I am his servant.”

‘Ali
(k.w.) did not know such a thing
before he became a believer. It was the
coming of Islam that brought enlightenment into his heart. From knowing nothing, ‘Ali (k.w.) gradually gained in knowledge,
until Rasulullah (s.a.w.) said of
him, “I am the city of knowledge, and ‘Ali is the door to that city.”

On
whose authority are the Muslims of today rejecting the pearls brought by the swahabah? Those pearls were acquired by the swahabah when they dived into the Ocean
of Rasulullah (s.a.w.). The Prophet (s.a.w.) was the Ocean, and the swahabah
did not bring their own pearls. They brought
pearls from the Prophetic Ocean. Who are
the scholars of today to deride or doubt what the swahabah brought? All the swahabah spoke with such pearls of wisdom.
The swahabah
brought thousands and thousands of pearls for us. The ignorant who speak ill of them are harming
the swahabah with their tongues. That is not adab. Such an action is Displeasing
to Allah (s.w.t.); it is He Who Arranged
for these 124,000 swahabah to provide
the foundation of Islam. They had been Selected
to carry the burden of the building of Islam. They are the Chosen. All the 124 000 swahabah were Selected to dive into the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) Ocean to retrieve pearls for the
next generation of believers.

We
must use the correct Criterion to judge what is brought to us. Whoever dives into that Prophetic Ocean will
either bring back oysters containing pearls or oyster shells which do not contain
pearls. We must be able to distinguish
between those who bring pearls, and those who bring shells. What is the Criterion to distinguish between
the good and bad people? We cannot judge.
Our judgement is always wrong. It is tainted with ego and emotion. We must use the Criterion that was Granted to
the swahabah of Rasulullah (s.a.w.).
An aspect of the Criterion is the Scale of the Prophet (s.a.w.).
The Criterion is the one that can differentiate between truth and
falsehood, and the swahabah took that
Scale from the Prophet (s.a.w.). That Scale has been passed down from
generation to generation to the inheritors of such knowledge. Whom amongst the scholars use that Scale now?
We are in the worst period of Islamic
civilisation today. Muslims no longer
seek out those who inherited that Scale. They simply judge by worldly scales that have
no reality. To judge if an act is bid’ah, haram or shirk, one needs
a Divine Scale. If one is not using a
Divine Scale, then he should hold his tongue. We must name our guide, from whom we inherited
that Scale and that knowledge.

The
fragmentation of the ummah of the
Beloved into 73 sects is due to this type of judgement based on worldly scales.
Which sect is acceptable in the Divine Presence?
Every sect judges the other by its own
standards and beliefs so everyone finds the other sects misguided and everyone
upholds his own sect. Is that how the
Divine Scale of Judgement works? Why is
it that the other sects do not look to the Ahl
as-Sunnah wa al-Jama’ah who has taken its teachings from the 124,000 swahabah of the Prophet (s.a.w.). The Prophet (s.a.w.) said, “My companions are like stars in the sky. Whomsoever you follow from amongst them, you
will be guided.” Each sect must ask
which companion it is following.

The
Salafi ‘ulama who claim to be guides
for the ummah bear a heavy
responsibility, as they have cut ties with the Guided. They claim to carry the torch of guidance for
the ummah. By doing so, they have placed barriers in the
path of seekers from attaining Paradise and from acquiring Allah’s (s.w.t.) Pleasure. We must be aware that Islam calls to people
to be good and not to be evil. This Message
was conveyed by Rasulullah (s.a.w.)
to the swahabah and from them to the
inheritors. One cannot invent a new Message
or a new Way today by labeling the swahabah
misguided.